TODAY’S SIGNATURE VERSE ••• Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days. (Daniel 6:10 NKJV)
PRAISE & PRAYER PROMPT ••• Today, we’re talking about prayer in the face of adversity. Let’s go to a fearless example — Daniel.
In Daniel 6, we find a plotline that would thrill any novelist or movie director… a king with a fondness for a trusted advisor… a group of jealous governors and leaders… and a plot to bring the good guy down and kill him.
King Darius had identified 120 leaders over his kingdom (called “satraps”) and assigned three governors over them, one of whom was the upstanding and trustworthy Hebrew, Daniel. These jealous adversaries couldn’t figure out how to bring Daniel down because he was pretty awesome at everything. So, they decided to play to the ego of the king while simultaneously using Daniel’s faith against him. They convinced the king to issue an order that no one could pray to anyone other than the king for 30 days.
Rabbit trail: I find it interesting that they added an expiration date to their idea…
But anyway, the king’s ego was effectively stroked, and the issue was ordered. Anyone who violated the order would be cast in a den of lions. So who in their right mind would have the temerity to break the mandates of the king?
Eh-hem. Daniel 6:10 says, “Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.”
Let’s break that down:
- Daniel knew the order to only pray to the king
- He went home
- He threw his windows wide open so anyone could see what he was doing
- He prayed on his knees
- He prayed three times
But not to Darius.
Why didn’t Daniel just go home, and keep the windows closed? He could have quietly prayed without making it known to the world…
But Daniel was a consistent prayer warrior with a fearless faith. He wasn’t worried about what others thought of his relationship with God.
You know the rest of the story: the governors had a temporary victory when Daniel was thrown in the lion’s den… King Darius had a sleepless night… and God’s man came out unscathed because he had God in his corner.
God is pleased by consistent, bold faith.
My question today: could your prayer life stand against a lion’s den?
Before you swallow hard on that one (as I did), let us remember that we have our own lion — the Lion of Judah, Jesus Christ. He has our back when our faith is challenged. We can trust in Him even when everyone is plotting against us.
Plus, I’ve read the last page. We win.
So pray hard. Pray often. And don’t be shy about it.
Today, as you pray, thank God for His goodness. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you the courage to stay strong against adversity. Ask Him to help you be consistent in prayer and strong in fearless faith.
SHARING ••• My Grace-Full Life is written by Denise Heidel. You are welcome to share anything I write, but please credit my writing and graphics accordingly. Visit www.MyGraceFullLife.com to read past blogs. Subscribe through my website to have My Grace-Full Life delivered to your email. You can unsubscribe at any time. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the NKJV translation.
